6 replies to this topic

[Mistwalker]

This is a last minute rush job for a 9 year old's birthday present.

Triming and priming were relatively straigth forward.


As the character is a mage who specializes in fire spells, and of course wears red, I started playing with reds. And while I didn't reach Anne's 9 or 10 reds, I do currently have 6 different reds on the miniature.



This is also my first try at using the eye technique that Anne and Jen showed in their DVDs. I am not satisfied with the eyes, but don't want to lose any more time on them.

Critique would be welcome, especially on the face or red layering.

I do plan on ptting a fair bit of gold trim on the miniature (in part following what Martin did on the Reaper painted version), but not quite sure what colors to paint the color - leaning towards brighter red leading to yellow at the moment.

[DSModels]

Very nice! I think the face and eyes look great! He's coming along fine. Don't you just love deadlines?

[Mistwalker]

Very nice! I think the face and eyes look great! He's coming along fine. Don't you just love deadlines?

I love deadlines!
(why, yes, there is a note of sarcasm in that response )

I am still trying to figure out the more capable camera, so I am still using my cellphone, so the pictures aren't as clear as they could be. So it is possible my dislike for the face (eyes and eyebrows issues) isn't coming across in the photo, or I am being overly harsh with my self (due to what was in my mind hasn't materialzed on the miniature yet).

I put in an hour on the triming and priming. Another hour in total on basing it (don't ask - super glue that didn't work, a slipped xacto blade and blood, green stuff that didn't want to cure). And 5 hours painting it so far.

To be fair, part of the time spent in painting is my learning curve - new techniques, first time trying a wet palette, still learning how to use Reaper paints (different approach from pots). I hope to speed things up in my next few painting projects, including my new version of Turuk in my other WIP thread.

[MonkeySloth]

The eyes and the definition around the cheeks really makes his face stand out.

[Maglok]

I really like the reds. I always find reds to be the second hardest color to work with (right after yellow). I love the face so far, very nice.

[ObsidianCrane]

I think I see the problem with the eyes; the iris dot need to be a little more round on the bottom. As a game mini (aka tabletop) they are great, if you want a more display mini they need a little tweak.

As you reference Jen's video I'm wondering if you mean Jen Haley. If so her eye technique is described here; http://www.paintrix-...p?&art=7&page=3 note how she handles the bottom of the eyes (note this is extra hard & definitely "pro painter").

Also with using your phone the trick is to watch what it focuses on; your back shot for example is focused on that red/black detail in the lower background. I use an iPhone4S and most of my shots are taken about 2 inches from the mini, maybe 3 or 4 for large minis. The big trick is to then get them into your computer and use an editing tool to adjust the color levels I recently learnt. (I use GIMP & in its color menu I select Levels and then auto, I then crop to focus on the mini and finally scale to 30% to make it reasonable to upload to the site.)

[Mistwalker]

Sorry, I was refering to Jen Haley and the video that she did with Anne Foerster (a Darksword miniatures DVD).

Thanks for the link, as I had not realized that she had posted text instructions/guidance/tips online. I will be reading the rest of her site with interest.

Life got in the way of painting for both of my WIPs, but I should be able to do some painting today.